Gen Alpha “no one uses big amps any more!”

[gary buff]

I had no idea Sunn Amplifiers were making a return. I remember being able to buy Sunns for cheap in the 80s and 90s.

Leslie West used them too with modifications. From Wikipedia:

"The Sunn amplifiers that West used were of the late 1960s era and were not factory stock. The 4-channel amplifier heads' preamps were wired as cascading preamps to 1 channel, out to the amp's power section. That's what produced the long compressed sustain and distorted overdrive of the great Mountain sound that he is well known for. This is years before Mesa Boogie Amplifiers with a similar idea got their amps on the world stage, but Boogies do have their own sound comparatively."

 

[Amp360]

I don't like the new trend of guitar sounds - the whole polite, overly effected clean sounds and tamed drive sounds I see so much on YouTube, but that seems to be what people go for - the processed version of a sound.

I still record with amps daily and live; I'm using amps unless someone sends me patches for what I'm doing. I'm still doing bigger stages throughout the summer concert series, so that could be part of it.

I'm using about eight amps at home along with a Fender Reverb (Fender, Magnatone, Gretsch, Dumble, Soldano, Top Hat). Live, it's still two.

 

[jb_abides]

I don't like the new trend of guitar sounds - the whole polite, overly effected clean sounds and tamed drive sounds I see so much on YouTube, but that seems to be what people go for - the processed version of a sound.

I agree: keep it a bit 'hairy' ... as it were.

 

[Amp360]

I agree: keep it a bit 'hairy' ... as it were.

I think it's due to fewer people playing in bands and more people toan chasing. If I were into that, I would go modeler and not look back.

However, there's a big reason so many recordings sound the same these days - the same guitar patches with the same drum samples and the same plug-ins. This is especially true for home recordings, but many new commercial recordings have a similar thing going on.

I have one console (API) and don't mix/match preamps, etc. I also only own a few hardware compressors and do my best not to use plug-ins, unless it's for more precision things, and do my best to stay away from the amp sims.

Some people get fantastic results and I understand the pros of modern ITB workflows. It just doesn't do it for me.

 

[bluesky636]

The day Joe Bonamassa packs up his Marshalls, Dumbles, High Power Tweed Twins, etc. is the day I will die.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Big sound that you could feel is what got me going to concerts and seeing bands bars. It was the energy of it all. Little amps mic'd through the PA just don't sound and feel the same. Kinda funny thinking of Eddie playing through a mic'd Champ or the like. Concert or bar.

 

[fred dons]

the only place my 150 watt tube amps get played is at home nowadays (dont have any neighbours so that helps) and for playing live it is either the kemper or through a smaller combo , still like the look of a wall of amps but as I have to carry everything myself I have taken the easy route (and dont regret it one bit)

 

[AA00475Bassman]

Not going to play 5 watt - my hearing is already toast - Im cranking my 50 watt's with enclosed cabs - proud to say I don't own 1 JIVE ASS - pedal - effect & yes I do not have one neighbor for at least 1 mile !

 

[jb_abides]

Not going to play 5 watt - my hearing is already toast - Im cranking my 50 watt's with enclosed cabs - proud to say I don't own 1 JIVE ASS - pedal - effect & yes I do not have one neighbor for at least 1 mile !View attachment 28372

Well... I top out at 100-watts with a glorious MESA Royal Atlantic RA-100, love plugging pedal-free into my Ampeg VT-40, have various and sundry options with Marshall JTM, JCM, 2061, 1974, Vox AC30s, Fender DRRI, etc. All the way down to ZVEX Nano 1 watt and Amp-In-A-Box pedals...

But I can definitively say this about a 5 watts Marshall Class 5: It Might Get Loud!

 

[Cliff Gress]

My JTM1C gets loud!!!

 

[MarcB]

Just sent off my 1984 Vox AC30tb to be serviced..

Play loud, play proud.

 

[SG Std]

My JTM1C gets loud!!!

Sorry to 'derail'--
Unfortunately I am not able to play loud so I rely on help from a pedal which does indeed help.

Back in 2012 I ordered both the Marshall 1 watt JTM1H & the 1 watt JMP1H and I quickly discovered that for both amps to sound their best, they had to be 'cranked fully up'.

IME when a 1 watt amp is fully cranked it no longer qualifies as a 'bedroom amp'!

 

[garywright]

what cab/speaker do you use with these cool heads

 

[jb_abides]

what cab/speaker do you use with these cool heads

Not sure what OP uses, but the anniversary 1 watt heads were produced with (optional) matching cabinets.

 

[jb_abides]

JTM offset with coffin logo, very cool.

 

[SG Std]

Not sure what OP uses, but the anniversary 1 watt heads were produced with (optional) matching cabinets.

View attachment 28401

Yes, the Marshall limited edition 50th Anniversary 1 watt amps released in 2012 were available in either the amp head only or the combo version--$749.00 [head] & $799.00 [combo], but IIRC Marshall did not offer a matching cab for the 5 different 1-watt amp heads [JTM, JMP, JCM 800, DSL, & JVM].

I am pretty sure that the 1w JTM Offset [seen in the post above this one] was not part of the initial 2012 release of the five 1 watt Marshall models listed above--it was released at a later date .

I chose the amp head model so I could match it up with some speakers I already had--WGS Reaper [12H30], EVL12M, WGS CL80, MM-12, V-30.

Altogether they were cool amps, including the volume reducing 0.1 watt option which really did not affect the tone at all, but did lower the overall volume. And the 1w JMP also had a 'boost' option which kinda put it into JCM 800 territory.

Because I thought they would be the prefect bedroom/home amp, when they were first announced at the 2012 NAMM show, I quickly ordered a few of the JMPs from different vendors to insure that I would have one--as Marshall emphasized that they were only going to be a 'limited edition' amp.

So I ended up w/ 4 or 5 of them [haha!], plus the JTM1H, but in the end I eventually sold all of them & at the nice little profit. As I mentioned previously above, they only sounded their best fully cranked up but by then they were pretty loud [for me anyway] and not a 'bedroom amp'! Maybe the 1w JCM 800 would've been the better choice for me...

[Edit for a better picture]

 

[Cliff Gress]

My JTM1C is a beautiful little amp. They only came in a head or combo version.

 

[Cliff Gress]

.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

As far as live entertainment goes I can understand some 70 year old person with a bad back who doesn't have anyone to move his gear using a little amp mic'd, but seeing young folks using little amps mic'd or modelling gear = the decline of the whole music scene IMO.

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

As far as live entertainment goes I can understand some 70 year old person with a bad back who doesn't have anyone to move his gear using a little amp mic'd, but seeing young folks using little amps mic'd or modelling gear = the decline of the whole music scene IMO.